Chances are it will also be released in high res, since it would have to have been remastered, it’s rare that ECM releases additional session material, so this is a real event!!
Oh, and btw, my first couple of comments here were actual content and not a link to AAJ So, as I said, when I feel I’ve something to add, I do. 1. The Listening to on ECM thread (post 2351) 2. The Listening to on ECM thread (post 2352)
Thanks John -I've just discovered Weber, and that will be a great read for me. This thread is a joy with so much love of the music within, and so many great suggestions. I'm enjoying these links of yours.
Thanks, and my pleasure. I really do post these links as I think at least some folks will find them of value. Not to toot my horn, but I’ve contributed chapters to two books about the label (Horizons Touched: The Music of ECM, Granta, 2007, edited by Steve Lake & Paul Griffiths; and Die Blau Klang, a German-only book with an adapted version of a lecture I gave at the 2009 40th Anniversary festival-within-a-festival at Enjoy Jazz in Mannheim, 2009), along with three written liners for the label (Terje Eypdal’s Odyssey Live & in the Studio Old & New Masters box; John Abercrombie’s First Quartet Old & New Masters box; and Peter Erskine’s As It Was Old & New Masters box), plus photos in another five CD booklets (Tomasz Stańko’s Dark Eyes; Ketil Bjornstad’s La Notte and A Passion for John Donne: Terje Rypdal’s Crime Scenes; and Iro Haarla’s Ante Lucem. All this only to say that I’ve got some history with the label, so am able to write about it, beyond being a fan for nearly 50 years, as someone who has been extremely fortunate to have been embraced by the label. Another article that may be of interest: my review of ECM: A Cultural Archeology, an exhibit that ran for a few months in 2012/13 in the label’s hometown of Munich, and which I was very grateful for the opportunity to cover. Covering the label’s first ten years or so, it was a terrific exhibit, and there was a book (same title) that Steve Lake and the curator put together that I believe is still available, and is highly recommended. Note: AAJ has a very strict conflict of interest policy (which I very much agree with); so anything I get paid for, like liners, book chapter, etc? I cannot review. As it should be...even if I feel I can be objective about reviewing such things, the optics are absolutely wrong, so best not to write about them, period.
Sorry to give you a hard time I understand where you are coming from. I know you have tight connections with ECM, so it would be great if you could contribute more here. Anyway, I do appreciate your meticulous reviews of ECM and King Crimson. Anything coming up on ECM that you are looking forward to?
Great note in the Odyssey box, I hadn't made the connection. I also have recently bought both Horizon's Touched - not reached your chapter yet, it's a heavy book, so being read slowly from my sofa in the evening - and the ECM: A Cultural Archeology book (I think now out of print with prices slowly rising).
Anyone know where I can watch Theodor Kotulla's film See the Music (1972)? The author of ECM: A Cultural Archaeology mentions the film in his book and states that it is "a rarely screened film of a performance by Marion Brown, Leo Smith, Manfred Eicher, Fred Bracewell and Thomas Stöwsand in a small Munich nightclub. What has piqued my interest is his description of this performance as follows "The stage on which the performance takes place is organised in a way that suggests the genre of an art installation. Arranged horizontally across the space are a variety of musical instruments, including domestic kitchen utensils hung on metal racks; flat, thin sheets of metal on the floor; as well as traditional musical instruments, such as double bass, bassoon, trumpet, drums etc".
good idea actually... Terje Rypdal - Odyssey In Studio & In Concert (1975/2012) ECM 2136-38, HiRes 24/96 playing the 67 min. bonus "Unfinished Highballs", a 1976 radio live recording feat. the Swedish Radio Jazz Group.
No worries! Just to be clear, I do review other things. Here are my articles so far this year. As for my tight connection? It’s still largely there, but since I can’t review all I used to, I’m a little more distanced these days. Still, I’m in the loop for new releases, and my contacts are still such that if I’ve any questions, I can easily get answers....but this CFS has really made my world much smaller.... Well, the Garbarek/Hilliard is, I believe, the last release for 2019 and they’ve yet to start sending 2020 advances (likely in December). Since I can’t write as many reviews as I used to, how about a list of ten 2019 regular series releases that I especially like: Louis Sclavis: Characters on a Wall Enrico Rava/Joe Lovano: Roma Marco Ambrosini: Resonances Frisell/Morgan: Epistrophy Giovani Guidi: Avec le Temps Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet: Metamodel David Torn: Sun jof Goldfinger Ralph Alessi: Imaginary Friends Joe Lovano: Trio Tapestry Bley/Peacock/Motian: When Will the Blues Leave
Thanks for the kind words. Of course, liner notes are only, imo, as good as the generosity of the artists with their time, and Terje was great. My chapter is small, but it was an honpur to be asked to talk about where the label is heading. funny backstory, though. I was approached to contribute the chapter in 2005. The label sent me material that was scheduled for release, some as much as 18-24 months out, sometimes rough mixes. The title was to be “Future Songs,” but because delays in the book (in ‘05 i was given 3 weeks to submit, once I had the music, though that wasn’t all that drove the chapter) until ‘07, by ehich time all the advance music sent was already out, we had to change it to “Present and Future Songs.”
I bought the Odyssey set several years ago and I mostly listen to the bonus disc, Unfinished Highballs. I love the sound of that ensemble.
I picked up the original US pressing of Rypdal’s Waves this morning. I am digging this album. I also appreciate how well ECM album owners treat their stuff. These used 70’s LPs are nearly always in fantastic shape.
Great list. Mine would be very similar. I don't know if I misunderstood your post but the Garbarek/Hilliard won't be the last ECM release for 2019. I am fairly sure that one Keith Jarrett, one album by Kit Downes and one album by Maciej Obara are all scheduled for release in the next weeks.
Another terrific album that, for any interested, I reviewed, along with four other seminal titles, when ECM released them in high res in 2017.
John, I just got this one and it blows me away. I bought While We're Young a long time ago and I thought it was okay but Speak Of The Devil is really a high point. Abercrombie's soloing is some of the best I've ever heard from him. Nussbaum has a great drum sound, and like Erskine he never over plays. Dan Wall"s modern approach to the organ rounds out this great trio playing some superb originals. So glad I picked up this CD!
Ah, of course you’re correct. For some reason, my brain was telling me that they were already out when they’re not. Maybe because ECM provided the promo for the Garbarek/Hilliard set after they did the Obara, Downes and Jarrett. A particular shout out for Maciej Obara, BTW, and his terrific Polish/Norwegian quartet. I saw one of their early gigs and, knowing the Norwegian contingent (double bassist Ole Morten Vågan and drummer Gaard Nilssen), they told me that apparently Manfred Eicher had seen them also (different show) and expressed great interest in recording the group. It took a couple of years though, and with Maciej an ambitious and pretty prolific writer, the quartet released two albums on a small Polish label - both highly recommended if you can find them. Meanwhile, the quartet’s two ECM albums are terrific. And its great that the lineup has stayed together unchanged since I first saw them - 2013 Molde Jazz Festival (scroll down to July 19, Obara International, which was the name of the group at first). I still remember that show....absolutely incendiary....no, nuclear!
Glad to hear it! I also like While We’re Young and the live Tactics, but there’s something particularly special about this one, from the writing to everyone’s playing, like you said, Dan Wall’s very modern approach...and just the whole vibe of this trio...it all seemed to really come together on this album. Dan stopped wanting to tour, but Abercrombie continued with the trio using Gary Versace (who was and is equally stellar but was still building a name at the time, and amongst others, he became the second organist of choice when Dan wasn’t available or willing. But Gary already had a great voice, and I wish I could have seen the trio with him in it.
Listening to some of their live playing on YouTube is what sent me looking for another CD by this trio. Luckily I found an inexpensive copy at Discogs. We really lost a great musician in John Abercrombie.
I probably listen to Odyssey 60/40 to unfinished highballs. I was just so thrilled to get the full double lp on CD, finally, as they initially released it without the side-long “Rollong Stone.” Of course, being asked to do the liners didn’t hurt But what was so significant about Odyssey was its being the culmination of Rypdal’s pursuit of a very different approach: bass and drums holding down a groove, with Rypdal and the trombonist layering two gorgeous, floating, rubato lines over them. It was so utterly unique, as usually rubato defines an ensemble’s playing as being “out of time.” But here, those floating, out of time melodies (with the players often cuing one another to move from one section to the next) were layered atop an in-time rhythm. I don’t know if anyone had done that before...I don’t think so....especially with not one, but TWO rubato melodies weaving in, out and around each other. Absolutely gorgeous.
Because I had the good fortune if speaking with him on more than one occasion (a 2005 interview at all about jazz, plus foe the First Quartet box liners; but we also bumped into one another on a number of other occasions when I was traveling around covering festivals abroad), and so had gotten to know him somewhat - and also know a number of musicians who had played with him (particularly Marc Copland, who I’ve also gotten to know over the last 15 years or so) - his passing was especially personal for me. I knew he was in hospital, and was getting fairly regular updates, and it seemed as though he was rallying...and then he was just ... gone. I think he is one of the biggest losses in contemporary jazz. A player who never relied upon predictable patterns but was, instead, the epitome of the motivic improviser and, consequently, never seemed to repeat himself (other, of course, than the motifs upon which he was building), but you know what I mean...my point being that he was instantly recognizable, and yet never seemed to repeat himself...which you can’t say about bigger names like Scofield and Metheny, even though I’m a huge fan of both as well. But I still actually find myself really missing him on a regular basis.
I'll give it (Odyssey) another listen tomorrow. I've been on an ECM kick of late after picking up some great older titles I've had on the to get list for years.
Definitely! He was a great improviser who always served the music. No ego or any of those trappings. Abercrombie, and Ralph Towner are legendary guitarists and artists in my mind. And a big influence on slightly younger players including Metheny.
